YESTERYEAR: Carlton Theater by Pat Sides

This photo was taken in late 1959, when the Carlton Theater at 216 Main Street was about to be razed to make room for a parking lot. The theater had opened with fanfare on Christmas day in 1937. A newspaper article noted the building’s “strikingly beautiful and daring front,” which was composed of polished black glass and highlighted with red and gold, colors that matched the lavish lobby. The Carlton opened during the Great Depression, when at least ten other theaters were operating in Evansville. Film historians have argued that this dreary era created the demand for films, which enabled audiences to temporarily forget their worries and gave rise to the “Golden Age” of Hollywood.